If your company has a 31 March year-end and claims R&D tax relief, there’s an urgent change you need to know about. Due to recent HMRC rule changes, failing to meet the new pre-notification requirement could mean losing your ability to make a claim entirely.
What’s Changed?
For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023, you must notify HMRC of your intention to claim R&D tax relief within six months of the end of that period. For companies with a 31 March 2025 year-end (a very common year-end date), the notification deadline is 30 September 2025.
This deadline isn’t far away – and missing it is costly. If you don’t submit your advanced notification in time (if required), you will simply lose the ability to claim R&D tax relief for that period.
Who Needs to Pre-Notify?
You only need to submit a claim notification form if:
- Your company is claiming for the first time; or
- Your last R&D claim was made more than 3 years before the notification deadline for this period.
However, there are important nuances. Even if you think you’ve claimed recently, HMRC considers that no valid prior claim exists if:
- The company claimed R&D tax relief for an accounting period beginning before 1 April 2023 by amending its tax return and the amendment was received on or after 1 April 2023; and/or
- HMRC rejected the claim and removed it from your tax return.
Because of these rules, many businesses mistakenly believe they don’t need to notify, only to have their claims rejected when it’s too late.
Why Act Now?
Making the advanced notification is straightforward – it’s a simple online form. But figuring out whether you have to do it can be complicated. Don’t risk invalidating your claim by assuming you’re exempt.
How Thompson Wright Can Help
We can help you navigate the new rules and confirm whether you need to notify HMRC before the deadline.
Get in touch with us today.